Indigenous Storybooks

Incorporating Indigenous pedagogy into teaching practices can seem like an overwhelming process. It involves stepping outside one’s comfort zone and adapting to a new way of thinking. However, one does not have to start by implementing a whole new way of teaching, but rather taking smaller steps such as incorporating new resources and small ideas. This is a lesson I have learned when trying to take the information I have obtained and implementing into my teaching practices. Therefore, in order to start by taking smaller steps, I have been trying to find Indigenous resources which fit my current teaching style.

As I mentioned in my last blog, storytelling is a primary source of passing on informational indigenous communities, therefore, incorporating storytelling into teaching practices is a great way to implement decolonizing pedagogy. I found a great online resource called Indigenous Storybooks. The website makes text, images, and audio of stories available in both indigenous languages as well as an English in French. All stories on the website come from a project based in Alberta called the Little Cree Books. The stories incorporate lessons which are important to indigenous communities such as teaching its readers about different aspects of Mother Nature. The stories also include elements of representing information which come from Indigenous practices such as the Medicine Wheel. The stories are great for beginners level readers as well as for implementing in both Core French, Extended French and French Immersion. There are many units where I could see myself using this resources when teaching units such as seasons, classroom objects, colours, etc. as the readings are short and use short simple sentences.

For those interested in exploring Indigenous Storybooks, you can check out their website: https://indigenousstorybooks.ca/